Made of Steel
by lillahbug
Summary: Caroline Forbes was always sure she would stay in Amity when the day came for her Choosing Ceremony. But when circumstances change, she finds herself in the last faction she ever expected to be a part of. And she discovers that she REALLY likes Dauntless leaders with strange accents and dimples. Klaroline Divergent AU- some background Bamon. Non-canon.
1. 1

Most days, I am up with the dawn, as is expected with all children of Amity. I help clean the horse and donkey stalls, or help load crates for the weekly shipment of our goods around the whole city. I'm expected to be up with a smile on my face, because that's what Amity is all about. No one thinks that maybe we get upset too, or angry or frustrated. We're the peaceful faction, so that means we always have to be happy, right?

The more I think about it, the more I realize that all of the factions are completely one-sided. The Candor must always be honest, the Erudite must always have the right answers, the Abnegation must always be selfless, and the Dauntless must always be brave. But then again, is there really anything wrong with being brave all the time?

"Caroline," my mother says as I walk back in from helping move empty crates to the field where they are to be loaded. "Good morning. Go clean up, sweetheart. I'll get our tea ready."

"Good morning, mother," I reply with a smile. Always smiling, always happy. Sometimes I think mom never belonged here-I can see the unhappiness in her eyes, sometimes. I've heard the story- she and Dad transferred to Amity together, but then dad turned out to like other men, and she was expected to be okay with him dragging her to a faction she never belonged in simply because Amity always accepts. Dad lives on the other side of Amity headquarters, and he's happy with his partner, whereas mom lives here miserable and regretful. Sometimes I wonder if she regrets me, but I would never ask.

I wash up and move back down the tedious wood steps to the living room. We have one of the oldest houses in Amity, built with a giant tree in the middle of it, and I've always loved how sturdy it is, how I feel safe even in my darkest moments. "Fresh berries?" Mom asks me.

"Yes, please," I smile, sitting down across from her and plucking a fresh raspberry from the bowl.

She slides my cup of tea to me, and I can see the expectation in her eyes. We all know what today is. "Are you ready for your Aptitude test?"

I nod. I may complain sometimes about Amity, but I already know it's going to be the faction I get on my Aptitude test. I'm the perfect Amity girl in the end, and it has it's ups and downs, but I wouldn't know where else to go.

Mom quints her eyes. "Good. And Caroline... no matter where you go-"

"Mom, it's okay," I reassure her, reaching forward and squeezing her hand tightly. "I already know where I'm going."

She looks doubtful. "No, you don't," she tells me. "Don't be so sure until after your Aptitude Test, alright?"

I sigh, but nod, because she really is right. I'm not 100% sure, but deep down I wonder if she really is looking out for me, or if she's just projecting her own regret onto me. As soon as I think it, I regret it. What a mean thing to think, especially about my mother! Pushing my guilt down, I gulp down the rest of my tea and stand up, popping a blueberry into my mouth. "I have to go," I tell her. "I'll see you tonight. I love you!"

"Remember to stop by your father's for dinner," she reminds me. Poor mom. She doesn't even get to run away from the pain of dad leaving her- they're going to be stuck by each other for the rest of their lives. They both run Amity- he solves unrest between the other Factions, whereas she keeps the peace within it, like a sort of 'peace Sheriff.' Father is fine working so close with her, but I know she would rather not have to.

"Alright," I nod. "Have a good day, mom." I slip out the door-there's no need for my school bag anymore, or ever again, really. Yesterday was our last day of public school, and the choosing Ceremony is tomorrow.

I see two familiar heads of hair standing by the school wagons, and veer towards them. April Young and Matt Donovan have been my best friends for as long as I can remember. I dated Matt for a while the year before, but he was just a little bit too, I don't know, safe for me, I guess. Now he and April spend their time making googly eyes at each other, which I'll probably have to deal with in the future, since they both are most likely to stay in Amity as well.

"Nervous for today, Care?" Matt asks me with a grin.

"Nope," I reply confidently, popping the p. "I got this."

"Of course you do," April cuts in as we get into the wagon. "You're Caroline Forbes, the picture perfect Amity princess. You've got everything." I spare her a smile and hope she's right.

April is the first of the three of us to go into the Aptitude test, since her last name is 'Young' and the order goes backwards alphabetically, for whatever reason. People whisper around me, and laughter bubbles up every once in a while. We are carefree even in such a nerve wracking time such as this. At some point, my friend Liv comes up and begins to braid my hair, her brother Luke beside her, and, almost like an instinct, I reach over and begin to braid hers as well, eyes still on Matt as he talks. Amity know no such thing as a personal bubble.

"Are you nervous, Caroline?" Luke asks me after Matt has finished his story-it is the polite thing to wait until someone has finished speaking to speak yourself.

"Of course she's not," Liv snorts, still working on braiding my hair. "She's Caroline. She's had everything planned out since we were in diapers." I think that if she transfers, it will be to Candor, and if she transfers, Luke will follow her, which means I will lose two friends. My heart aches.

"I'm prepared," I agree with her, and it's dropped at that.

Liv goes next out of our little group, and then Luke, and when they come back, they look as fine as they did before. They got what they assumed they would, I'm sure. "Caroline Forbes," is finally called, and I stand up, straightening out my yellow skirts.

"Good luck," a few of my friends chorus, but it sounds nonchalant. They assume I have this in the bag- so much so I don't even need luck. Liv gives me a thumbs up, and I wink at her before walking down the aisle.

An Amity girl I don't know very well also goes at the same time as me, and we both give each other 'good luck' grins, walking in step out of the cafeteria. Waiting outside are ten separate rooms-two for each faction at a time. I walk into the first room, the girl I was with walking into the second, and immediately I take in my surroundings. The walls are made of mirrors, which I'm not used to seeing. I let my eyes land on myself, on the features I'm already used to seeing-wavy blonde hair, bright eyes, pale skin. But this time I'm not smiling. A wave of nerves I wasn't expecting washes over me, and hurriedly I turn to the administrator.

She's a Dauntless woman, but not nearly as severe as the ones I'm used to. Her hair is a light brown and to her shoulders, her green-blue eyes criticizing me for a moment before nodding towards the chair. "Sit down." I obey, walking to the seat that kind of looks like a dentist's chair. Cautiously, I stare at the machine next to the chair, and the woman follows my gaze. "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. My name is Rose. I'll be administering your test today. You're-" she looks at the computer screen. "-Caroline?"

"Yes," I tell her, taking a deep breath. Relax, Caroline. It will be over quickly- a piece of cake. And then my five year plan can continue on the path it was supposed to.

Rose stands behind me, and I watch through the mirrors as she grabs a few wires and attaches them to my temples. Then she turns again, grabbing a vial of some sort of clear liquid. "Drink this," she orders, and I look at it cautiously.

"What is it?"

Vaguely, she looks annoyed. "The serum, obviously," she scoffs. "I have to administer it somehow."

"Sorry," I apologize, taking it gently from her. "Is it gross?"

She shakes her head. "You won't taste anything. Come on, Amity." I take a deep breath before pouring the liquid into my mouth, and within three seconds my world goes blank.

Rose is no longer with me when I wake up. I'm back in the cafeteria, but none of my friends are there anymore- no Liv, no Luke, no Matt, no April. In front of me is a table with two bowls. In one is a piece of cheese, and in the other is a knife. "Choose," a voice says, and I blink, frantically looking between the options. Barely even registering what I'm doing, I snatch up the knife, and as soon as I do, the tables disappear, and there's the distinct sound of growling behind me. I spin, face blanching when I come face to face with a snarling dog, and immediately I raise the knife, ready to defend myself if need be.

The dog snarls and lunges at me, and I stumble back slightly. It's teeth are snapping at my neck, and I fall onto my butt. I don't want to hurt it- I know every life has a purpose. 16 years have taught me that. So why do I slash out the hand with the knife anyways? Why do I plunge it into the dog's stomach with barely a second thought?

It slumps to the ground, and for a moment I get the urge to cry, but I don't get the chance. The floor starts to waver, and I begin to melt through it along with the body of the dog. Once again, my world goes blank.

I wake up gasping for air, my whole body shaking. Rose looks at me, and I'm surprised to see that she looks faintly impressed as she nods at me and then her eyes move back to the screen. "What's my result?" I ask her, and for some reason I'm afraid of what she's going to tell me.

She glances at me again. "You, my dear, are 100% Dauntless."

And just like that, my 5 year plan comes shattering around me.


	2. 2

**Forgot to put this on the last update- I do not own anything associated with Divergent or the Vampire Diaries. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.**

"Are you okay?" Liv asks when I get back. "You look sick."

"The serum made me feel funny," I tell her, and that technically isn't a lie. The serum itself didn't make me feel funny, but the results I got after I took it definitely did.

They buy my answer and cheerfully go on chattering, but I can barely find it in me to talk. How am I Dauntless? Sure, there has always been something appealing about them- how fearless they are. They live in a constant state of danger, whereas everything about Amity is safe. Still, just because I got Dauntless on the Aptitude test doesn't mean I have to pick to be in that faction.

I barely talk on the way home. My friends all don't seem to notice-they simply chalk it off to me still feeling sick and talk among themselves, all of them excited now that they know where they belong. Now their Choosing Ceremony has become that much easier.

Mine hasn't.

Liv and Luke walk with me to my father's house, since their own is close by. "Let's all ride together to the Hub tomorrow," Liv proposes. "Just in case, you know, it's the last time we're all together." So she IS leaving Amity. I simply nod to her and walk up the steps. I'll have to remember to study their faces extra hard the next day, so I don't forget.

"Caroline," my father's partner Steven greets me, hugging me to his side. I've always liked Steven- it was never his fault, what happened between my parents. I never blamed him. That wouldn't be Amity of me. "You okay, hun? You look sick."

"I feel kind of sick too," I admit, and again, it's not a lie.

"Oh, that serum made me feel that way too when I took my Aptitude test," he sympathizes, as if he has any idea how I feel right now. Steven always knew where he belonged-he was born in Amity and knew that was where he should stay. Suddenly, I can't help but feel jealous of him.

"There's my girl!" Dad comes out from the living room, and again I am smothered with a hug, like I hadn't seen him the day before. "How was your Aptitude test?"

"It was alright," I say vaguely. He doesn't try to ask me what the result was- we all know that's not allowed, and I'm thankful he can't ask me. I'm not sure if I'd be able to lie straight to his face. "What's for dinner?"

"Omelets," Steven grins. Breakfast food for dinner- my favorite. That means they're celebrating me about to become a full fledged member of Amity, except I'm not sure if I will be anymore. I don't know where I belong.

Dinner is how it always is, except everything I do seems forced. Smiling doesn't seem to come as easily to me as it did just 12 hours ago. "Oh," Dad says about halfway through dessert-which just happens to be more berries. "I heard some news today. Mikael Mikaelson's last child is choosing tomorrow as well. His only daughter- Rebekah, I think her name is."

"How many children does that man even have?" Steven asks.

"He had six." Dad grimaces. "The youngest died a few minutes after he was born." Mikael Mikaelson is the head of Erudite, and as far as I'm concerned, a cruel, terrifying man, though I'd never admit that. They say he grew cruel after his wife died during childbirth, but I have a feeling he was mean before that, too. "Anyways, he doesn't care where she goes, I'm sure. His two eldest, Finn and Elijah, stayed in Erudite, and his two other sons transferred. I suppose it would be nice to have that many kids. It wouldn't matter who transferred and who stayed, since it's so unlikely for all of them to transfer and leave him alone." My heart plummets, and I don't talk for the rest of dinner.

I don't sleep well that night. How could I? Images of dogs and knives run through my head, and I wonder how ashamed my father would be if he knew how easily I had killed an animal, even if it had been attacking me. 'Violence is never the answer,' he tells me. 'There is always another way around it.' But what was I supposed to do? Lay down on the ground and let it attack me? No- I had done the right thing. I freeze. That is certainly not the way an Amity would ever think. I am already thinking like a Dauntless.

The next day, mom lets me sleep in. For once, I'm not required to get up at the crack of dawn, which I'm super grateful for, since half of the night I was up with my thoughts. I finally drag myself out of bed and look at myself in my mirror. I can't see the Amity princess anymore. The yellow nightie looks strange on me, and I suddenly realize that yellow isn't really my color. But I don't look Dauntless either. Not yet.

"Today's the day," Mom tells me cheerily once I make my way downstairs. "I have some things to wrap up here, but I'll meet you at the Hub."

"Alright," I nod, walking past her to the door, but her hand on my arm stops me.

"Remember, Caroline," she murmurs. "Wherever you go, I'll still love you." I don't know how she knows that I may not pick Amity, but I guess it always was easy for her to read me like an open book. I only nod and squeeze her hand, letting my eyes roam over her because this might be it, the last time I live in the same faction as my mother, before I turn and walk out of the house.

"Ready?" Liv calls, already waiting for me by one of the wagons.

 _No, I'm not ready at all._ "Yup," I tell her. Matt and April get in with the twins and I, and I find my eyes lingering on the Amity compound as we trot down the road towards the city.

"You're sweating," Luke accuses, and I freeze, thinking he's talking to me, but his eyes are focused on Matt.

"Come on, man, how are you not?" The other boy asks. "This is the biggest day of our lives."

"But no pressure, right?" I say dryly. Everyone laughs, but I'm not really joking.

When we get there, the other factions are already flooding in. Liv and Luke say goodbye, and from the way they're staring intently at all of our faces, I know that when they say 'goodbye,' they mean forever. They move to find their sister Jo, and April moves to find her own family. I can see Matt's gaze raking through the Candor, looking for his sister Vicky, no doubt, and I squeeze his shoulder before spotting my father and making a B-line towards him.

"There you are," he smiles. "Come on, let's go find our seats."

We enter the Hub together, and I try to make the smile on my face as believable as possible. "Oh, boy," Steven murmurs from my other side, and I follow his gaze to the middle of the room, where Mikael Mikaelson and Grayson Gilbert seem to be in a standoff. A blonde girl stands behind Mikael, scowling, and behind Grayson are his wife and their children. I never really gave the Gilbert family a second thought- they all look like the perfect Abnegation family. The only time I've ever even talked to them was at their eldest daughter Tatia's funeral a few years back.

Dad, ever the peacekeeper, makes a B-line towards them. Everyone knows Erudite is responsible for the horrible things being written about Abnegation, but the Choosing Ceremony is not the place to have it out. "Grayson," my father greets with a nod. "Mikael. How are you today?" Immediately, the Gilbert children relax- all except one, one of the Gilbert twins. She-Katerina, I think her name is- always fascinates me the most. No, she doesn't try to stand out, per se, but she doesn't try to blend in either, which is not really something that happens in her faction.

"Bill," Miranda Gilbert nods politely. "Steven." Her eyes go to me, but before she can comment, Mikael does.

"I wasn't aware your daughter was choosing today," he says, staring at me, and it takes all of my willpower to send him a sunny smile instead of shuddering.

"Yes. Your daughter is too, is she not?" Dad asks.

"Yes, I am," Rebekah nods.

"And your daughters too, right Grayson?" Mikael asks, but I don't miss the sneer in his voice.

Grayson ignores it. "Yes, Elena and Katerina will be choosing today." I smile at them, and Elena, the twin with the pin-straight hair, smiles back, though Katerina only gives me an disinterested look before turning away. It only makes me more fascinated with her.

Crisis averted, we say goodbye as Mikael goes in one direction and the Gilberts lead their four remaining children-Jeremy and Amara are the two younger ones, I think- to the Abnegation section. Dad doesn't say anything, but I know inwardly he's sighing in relief.

After a few minutes, we all settle down, and Grayson gets on the stage. Mom slips in a little late, but she sits down right next to me, squeezing my hand through the entire speech, the one we hear each year. If I transfer, I have no idea how I'll survive without her as my anchor.

I only pay attention to a few of those choosing (once again, the names are drawn backwards alphabetically, which means I won't go for a while). The first is April, who stays in Amity like I knew she would. The next that catches my attention is a Dauntless boy named Stefan. He transfers to Abnegation, and I sigh a little in relief. If I transfer to Dauntless, it won't be the only almost unheard of transfer to happen today. Next I watch Liv-Olivia- and she chooses Candor, like I suspected. Luke does a moment later. They both glance at me with regret in their eyes, but I only smile at them. They aren't leaving me behind.

"Caroline Forbes." I jolt, and my mom stands up, letting me scoot into the aisle.

"I love you," she whispers, and maybe she already knows I'm leaving, even if I'm not 100% sure myself.

I walk to the stage, and I can feel my whole faction's expectant eyes on the back of my neck, burning a hole through me. Grayson hands me the knife used for the ceremony to me with an encouraging nod, and I bite my lip, looking down at the five bowls- glass for Candor, water for Erudite, grey stones for Abnegation, soil for Amity, coals for Dauntless. My eyes linger a little longer on the coals, and then I'm slicing my hand open.

I'm not smiling anymore, because I can't see any way that my five year plan will work out. I don't want to wake up every day at the crack of dawn. I don't want to come home every night with dirty hands and a dirty face. I don't want to end up settling for Matt, or some other nice Amity boy. I don't want the regret in my mother's eyes to transfer into my own.

I glide my hand to the side, and a single drop of blood falls down. When I hear the sizzling sound of it on coals, I can breath again.

"Dauntless."

 **So yeah, I ALMOST made Caroline divergent, because she's a vampire on the show, but if I made everyone who is supernatural on TVD, the only non-divergent characters would be, like, Matt and April lmao. But anyways, I hope you're liking the story so far!**


	3. 3

**I do not own anything associated with Divergent or the Vampire Diaries. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.**

I don't miss the gasp that comes from the Amity section of the room as I hand the knife back to Grayson. He wipes it off, and even he looks surprised as I walk past him. The Dauntless are cheering, even louder than they have for anyone else, and I suppose snatching the Amity princess is a big accomplishment for them. An Amity transferring to Dauntless is already scandalous enough, but the daughter of two of Amity's leaders? No one imagined that would ever happen.

Matt and April stare at me with open mouths, and so do Liv and Luke from their places with the Candor. Slowly, my eyes slide back to my parents. Steven is pale as a sheet, a hand on my father's. And my father- my father is glaring, a look of betrayal in his eyes. Never has he looked so angry, probably since he transferred 20 years ago to Amity. But mom, mom smiles at me kindly, and I think I catch a glimmer of pride on her face as I walk off the stage to my new faction.

"Welcome to Dauntless!" someone shouts in my ear, and I blink in surprise as I sit down in a recently evacuated seat. I can feel my parent's eyes still on me, but I don't dare look away from the stage for the rest of the ceremony.

"Katerina Gilbert," Grayson calls next, and his daughter stands up, back straight as she walks up to the stage. She takes-no, snatches- the knife from her father, not even wincing as she slits open her palm. She glares right into his eyes as her blood drips onto the sizzling coals.

The Dauntless cheer again, and Grayson looks stricken as his daughter stalks from the stage, not even looking at me as she plops down next to me. An Abnegation transferring anywhere is almost as rare as an Amity transferring to Dauntless. "Elena Gilbert," her father calls, trying to steady his voice, and Elena slips from the Abnegation section, walking to the stage. She doesn't even glance at her sister.

Elena doesn't hesitate either, but her blood drips onto the grey stones instead of the coals. "Abnegation." Next to me, Katerina scoffs.

Matt chooses Amity just like I knew he would, and after that, I zone out completely. Finally, the last name is called, and the ceremony ends. The Dauntless are the first to get to their feet, and Katerina and I glance at each other before getting to our feet as well and following them down the aisles to the door. I don't look at my family again.

All of the transfers follow the Dauntless through the halls and down the stairs, the stairs that usually only the Abnegation ever use. Whoops and shouts fill the air, and around me everyone begins to run, so I follow their example. Once we get to the first floor, we speed up even more, bursting through the doors and out onto the open streets. We are a blur of mostly black, the colors of the transfers dotting through the mass. And even though I stand in yellow and red, I feel at home.

"Where are we going?" Another transfer shouts from behind me.

"Obviously we don't know," Katerina spits at him, and I don't know how she ever was an Abnegation member. Dauntless seems to course through her veins. We stick to each other's sides, a silent agreement to stay together already forming, and follow the crowd down the street. Once we get to the end, there is the familiar sound of a train horn. Only the Dauntless ever use the trains.

I peek over the head of someone shorter than me, and briefly I see blurs of black as the Dauntless jump onto the train. "They're jumping on," I whisper, slightly breathless, and behind me looks of panic flash across the other initiates' faces, but I don't know how they could panic. We've all seen the Dauntless jump onto or off the train at least a few times in our lives.

I line up with it, running a few paces before launching myself into one of the cable cars. I'm tall enough that I'm able to successfully get into the train, but a couple are not as lucky. An Erudite boy and an Abnegation boy-the only other Abnegation transfer besides Katerina- fall behind, and my throat goes dry. They just failed initiation, and we all know what that means. They are now factionless.

"Scoot," Katerina orders, and I obey, moving over so she can plop down next to me, breathing heavily.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" A girl in Candor clothing asks from across us, and I turn to study her. She's beautiful, with long dark hair, green eyes, and dark skin.

"Dauntless headquarters, obviously," Katerina grumbles, and I have to stop from scolding her. This is not Amity. Being rude is not an offense.

"Oh, thank you," The Candor girl rolls her eyes. "I meant where do you suppose the headquarters are?"

"Somewhere on a cliff or surrounded by fire," I decide jokingly, and her green eyes flick to me, her lips quirking up. "I'm Caroline. This is Katerina."

"Bonnie," the girl tells me. "It's nice to meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you, too," I say, my Amity kindness showing through. Katerina doesn't speak, only nodding in her direction dismissively before returning to staring out the cable car door at the landscape as it zooms by us.

After a few moments, the former Abnegation finally turns to me. "I meant to tell you thanks," she starts, and my head cocks in confusion. "I thought me transferring was gonna be the most scandalous thing that would happen this year. But the Amity princess transferring to Dauntless, of all places?" She smirks. "You took the heat off me."

I roll my eyes, and it takes me a minute to realize what I've done. I don't think I've ever really been _sassy_ before. It's something I can get used to.

"What the bloody hell are they doing?" A voice demands, and I look up in surprise to see Rebekah Mikaelson peering out of the car a few feet away from me. I hadn't even realized she had transferred. "Are they really jumping?"

"What?" I exclaim, getting to my feet and moving to stand next to her. Sure enough, those already Dauntless are leaping out of the train and onto the roof of a building. Some do flips-one even does a handspring onto the gravel, which I find completely insane. I can't even imagine jumping off in the first place, which it looks like I'm going to have to do.

"We need to jump soon," Bonnie informs us, and I hesitate.

"Oh, come on, princess," Katerina tells me. "Are you scared? Do you need me to hold your hand?" I study her eyes, and realize that she's not only asking for me, but for herself as well. She'd never admit it, but this scares her as much as it scares me, so without a word, I slip my hand into hers. Bonnie grabs onto my other, and we back up, running forward and flinging ourselves out onto the roof just before the train buzzes away.

Katerina could have made it on her feet, but Bonnie both and I fall on our butts, sending her into the gravel too. She sputters at us with an annoyed expression, and I let my lips twitch up before I'm laughing, Bonnie joining me. "You both are dumb," the former Abnegation states, but her lips are twitching up as well.

"Hey, listen up!" A voice calls, and we get to our feet, turning to look at the man standing on a ledge in all black. He looks to be in his 40's, with dark hair and eyes, and though I can see a hint of kindness as he looks at us all, I can also see that he is not someone to be messed with. "My name is Alaric. I'm one of your leaders of your new faction." He looks behind him, and I stand on my tippy toes to peer over the ledge from where I stand. Behind him is a large gaping hole that fills me with a sense of dread. "Several stories below us is the members' entrance to our compound. If you can't muster the will to jump off, you don't belong here. Our initiates have the privilege of going first."

"You want us to jump off a ledge?" Bonnie asks incredulously.

"Yup," Alaric nods as if it's the most simple thing in the world. She looks like she wants to ask him something else, but seems to think better of it and shuts her mouth. "So, who would like to go first?"

I most certainly do not want to go first. That seems like the last thing I'd like to do. But I can see the people staring, can practically hear the thoughts forming in their heads. Amity princess. Abnegation is usually picked out to be the weakest faction, but Katerina's mouth will prove her worthy soon enough. I'm still just learning how to stick up for myself, which is why I shoot through the crowd before anyone else can. Not that anyone else was going to.

"Hey, Amity's the other way, princess!" Someone calls, but I ignore them, shrugging off my red shawl and letting it fall to the ground as I take Alaric's spot on the ledge. I cannot, for the life of me, see anything at the bottom of the hole, and after about five seconds of peering dumbly into the hole, I take a deep breath. Too late to go back now. Without even looking back, I leap into the darkness.


	4. 4

I can't scream. The wind is taken from my lungs, and my stomach feels as though it's going to drop out of my feet as I plunge down into the darkness. There's a split second where I think that I'm totally about to die, and there will be little Caroline pieces splattered all over the ground, but before I can really start to panic I hit something sturdy. Quickly, I gulp in a deep breath, and relief floods through me as I stare up at the little tunnel of light far above me. Whatever I hit-a net, I realize- moves, and I roll to the side, into a pair of arms.

The pair of arms belong to a woman with brown eyes and long blonde hair, and she smiles at me as she helps me out. "Wouldn't want you to get crushed by another initiate," she explains, gesturing with her head back to the net. "What's your name? You can pick a new one if you want, but choose a good one. You don't get to pick again."

"Um," I say. "Caroline. I'm Caroline."

"First jumper, Caroline!" The woman shouts, and I hear clapping, a few people shouting my name back as a means of encouragement. "Welcome to Dauntless."

"Wow, we really did snag the Amity princess," a masculine voice snarks, and I turn to see a man by the net. His jaw looks like it could cut glass, and so do his eyes, which are so blue they remind me of ice, and go well against his pale skin and raven black hair.

"Get back to your side of the net, Damon," the blonde woman snaps, scowling at him, and Damon rolls his eyes but obeys, moving to a dark skinned man who is also smirking at me.

"At least have Blondie get out of the way," Damon calls, and I blink before moving to the side.

Katerina comes third, and immediately gravitates to my side. "That was a head rush, wasn't it Katerina?" I ask her.

"It's Katherine now," she informs me, picking at her cuticles.

"Katherine," I echo her. "It suits you." It's the first time I think I've ever seen her genuinely smile.

As more and more people come down, I notice Damon beginning to get more and more confused and impatient. Every time someone begins to fall, optimism spreads over the man's face, only to diminish when the person falls into the net. Whoever Damon is waiting for, he or she is not here. Finally, when everyone is down, a Dauntless born who fell right after me-Enzo, he had said his name was- moves to Damon and claps him on the back.

"Stefan transferred," Enzo tells him. "I'm sorry mate."

Stefan- I remember that name. He transferred to Abnegation. Damon's face falls, but before he can say anything, the handsome, dark skinned man speaks up. "Alright," he calls. "Dauntless borns, you're with Lexi and Damon, seeing as you all don't need a tour of the place."

"Come on," the blonde woman from before-Lexi- orders, and I can't help but notice she looks vaguely upset too as she and Damon lead the Dauntless born initiates through a tunnel to the side.

"That leaves you with me," the dark-skinned man smirks. "Usually, I'm an ambassador between the Factions, but during initiation, I help train the new transfers. I'm Marcel, and you are going to be seeing a lot of me in the next few weeks, so get used to it." Rebekah is blatantly staring at him, and when his eyes flicker to her, recognition flits across them before he turns and starts walking to a tunnel entrance. "This way, initiates."

We all scramble to keep up with his large, confident strides, through the narrow tunnel. At one point, it gets so narrow we have to line up single file just to all fit through before the tunnel ends. We follow Marcel through a few hallways, and he doesn't speak, not even looking back to make sure we're still following him. It's obvious he thinks himself above all of this.

Finally, Marcel leads us into a vast room. It spans several stories above us, with stairs leading up and down the sides, and I can make out several stores farther up, along with several on the ground level, where we are. "This is the Pit," Marcel starts, spreading his arms out behind him. "the center of life here at Dauntless."

"You think they would have come up with a better name for it," Katherine snarks in my ear, and I have to suppress the urge to snort.

"You need anything, you'll find it here," Marcel continues, leading us through the dead center of the Pit. Laughter from the Dauntless members floats in around me, and it's nothing like the laughter back in Amity. Amity laughter is light and airy, where as here, they are not afraid to make a ruckus. "Furniture, food, clothing, any other necessities are sold within the shops here. But, you may have noticed we don't exactly have railing on the steps leading to the upper stairs, so try not to be an idiot and fall off, yeah? Get high enough and you won't survive the fall."

I shudder at the thought of dying such a bloody death and tear my eyes away from the rock walls.

Marcel veers towards the left, and we follow, looking around one last time before directing our attention to the bridge he has led us to. Below, I can hear the deafening roar of some type of body of water. "This is the Chasm," Marcel shouts over the noise. "Let me tell you right now that there is a FINE line between bravery and idiocy. You may think you're being brave jumping off this bridge, but you're most definitely dead if you pull that little stunt." He shrugs, as if falling to your death from the Chasm is the most normal thing. "Alright, come on."

We follow him back into the Pit, where he leads us to a big hole in the wall, filled with the Dauntless, sitting and eating at tables, laughing, shouting across to each other obnoxiously. Katherine, despite her confidence before, looks somewhat unsure of herself as we walk in and they all begin to cheer, and I suppose it makes sense. She may not act like someone raised in Abnegation, but she still was. This amount of noise would be foreign to her. To me, it's not. Sure, we were never this loud in Amity, but we still all ate together, and I can't help but smile at all the attention being thrown our way.

Marcel dismisses us to eat, making his way to who I can only assume are his own friends, and we don't try to follow him. "Over there," Bonnie nods towards a particularly empty table, and the three of us make a B-line towards it. Katherine and I sit by each other, and Bonnie sits across from us. We're about to dig in when there's a shadow, and Enzo, the boy from earlier, slides in next to Bonnie with his own plate.

"Can we help you?" Katherine asks him, but he doesn't seem bothered.

"For an Abnegation, you're mighty rude," he tells her, but he's grinning, making it obvious he's teasing her.

"There's a reason I left," she shrugs.

"Yeah, well, my best mate is currently pouting because his broody brother left Dauntless like the rest of us knew he would, so I thought I'd get to know some of the fresh meat."

"You're an initiate too," Bonnie points out, glaring at him. "That makes you fresh meat just like us."

"Except I've been living here my whole life," he retorts, his eyes moving to me. "What about you, gorgeous? Think you've got what it takes?"

"I know I've got what it takes," I reply, and it's the most Dauntless thing I've ever said. "I'm Caroline."

"I know," he grins again. "Everyone knows by now, I'm sure. The name of the first jumper tends to stick with you."

"It's that big of a deal around here?" Katherine asks, cocking her head, and he nods casually, taking a bite of his hamburger. "

"I can't help but notice you haven't touched your food," he tells her. "They don't have hamburgers in Abnegation, Stiff?"

"You're gonna want to refrain from calling me a Stiff," she answers him coolly.

"I'll take that as a no, then," he replies, and I can't help but admire him, so unapologetic and sure of himself. I hope I can get to that point someday.

"Put this on it," Bonnie instructs Katherine, handing over the ketchup, and she looks as it skeptically, making no move to put it on the burger, so I do it for her. She gives me a look before picking it up, and we all watch her as she takes a bite, chewing slowly.

"Well?" I prod. Her only response is to take a bigger bite, and we all laugh, easy smiles on our faces.

And then the whole room goes silent. I twist to see what's going on, only to see a man who only looks a few years older than us stalk into the room. He's handsome, that's for sure- with dimples and brooding eyes, but something else tells me _no, don't find him attractive. He'd eat you up in one bite._

"Who's that?" Bonnie hisses to Enzo, and I turn back around, afraid I'll make eye contact with the strange man and burn to ash just by looking in his eyes.

"Klaus," Enzo answers, turning back to his burger. "One of the leaders here at Dauntless. Probably the most ruthless, too."

"He's so young," I whisper.

"Age doesn't matter here, Blondie. Skill does." He shrugs. "Klaus was the top of his class, ranked first." _And he could snap anyone at this table like a pencil._

I spare another glance in his direction. He doesn't even look over at us, which I am grateful for, as he plops down into an empty seat across from Rebekah Mikaelson, of all people, who doesn't look the least bit afraid of him. Next to them is a dark haired, dark eyed boy with a smirk on his face, and they all talk with their heads down low. It takes a minute, but I see the resemblance between them all- especially Klaus and Rebekah. They have the same eyes, the same bone structure, and I notice it even though I sit far away from them.

 _Mikael Mikaelson has two sons that transferred._

"He's a Mikaelson, isn't he?" I ask Enzo. "Him and that boy."

Enzo's eyebrows raise so far up I think for a moment they're going to crawl into his hairline. "How'd you figure that?"

"They all look alike."

"Wow, sure you didn't come from Erudite?" Katherine drawls, earning a disapproving look from Bonnie.

"Yeah, he's Mikael's kid," Enzo says simply, and after that, the subject is dropped, and I don't blame him for it.

Mikael Mikaelson is fear itself. And Klaus being his child only gives me more incentive to stay away.


	5. 5

**I do not own anything associated with Divergent or the Vampire Diaries. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.**

I do not get to stay away from Klaus for long. It's only about fifteen minutes, in fact, because dinner ends and the Dauntless move to wherever they are to go, whereas the transfers stand around dumbly, looking for Marcel. And then Klaus whistles at us like dogs, holding up a hand casually, and we all take that moment to gather around him.

"You're in luck, initiates," he smirks. "I'll be escorting you to your quarters this evening." The hand goes down and he turns on his heel, sauntering through the hole in the wall with no other words, and we all hurry after him, stumbling over stray debris as we go, whereas he moves elegantly and lethally, like some type of animal. A leopard maybe. Or a wolf.

We follow him down a hall, taking a few turns my mind barely memorizes, before he stops in front of a pair of wide double doors. "For those of you who don't know," he drawls. "My name is Klaus. I'm a leader here at Dauntless- and I personally volunteered to oversee your training this year."

His lips curl into a vicious grin, and momentarily I wonder why just this year he volunteered to oversee our training. Maybe it's because of his sister. Maybe it's because of something else entirely.

"Of course, you'll all have to follow a few measly rules," his smirk sharpens. "You're all to be in the Pit by 7:55, where Marcel or myself will escort you to the training room, and inside the training room by 8:00. Come in even a minute late, and I won't be very convinced of your duty to your new faction. You will get no lenience here, which means each day will be a long one, from 8:00 to 6:00, with a one hour break midday for lunch. Other than that-" he shrugs. "Do as you please, and do try not to get yourself killed before the cut at the end of stage 2."

I want to open my mouth and ask what the cut is, what he means, but I want none of his attention on me. I don't even want him to look at me once. Thankfully,Bonnie speaks up before I can. "What cut?"

Klaus's eyes sweep over to her, and he grins, as if he was hoping someone would ask the question. "We don't want those who are weak," he shrugs. "Don't have time for them. So a new rule has been enforced. Only the top ten ranking initiates will be permitted to stay in Dauntless."

It takes all of my energy not to fall over right then.

Katherine's fingers clamp onto my skin tight, and I know she feels the same way, can see it in the way she pales, mouth parted slightly. We're thinking the same thing, that we're both presumed weaker and that already makes us targets. _Why hadn't anyone told us that there was a cut?_

"Lucky for you, there are only seven transfers this year- an unusually low number," he continues as if his words hadn't just changed our whole lives. This was no longer an initiation. This was a fight for survival. "But there are still ten Dauntless born initiates, which very well means you could all be cut." He shrugs.

"How are the cuts determined?" One of the only male transfers-Tyler, I had heard him called- demands, dark eyes fixed on Klaus.

Klaus, evidently, does not like being looked at by someone that boldly, because his own eyes narrow, and Tyler flinches back slightly. "You will all be ranked," the leader replies. "Separately throughout stage one than the Dauntless born initiates. However, at the end of the first stage, you will all be ranked together. The lowest four ranking initiates will be cut, and the rest will go at the end of stage 2."

"So, that's all the rankings are for then?" Bonnie asks, swallowing. "To cut those of us who don't make it?"

Klaus shrugs, obviously enjoying the fear he is igniting in all of us, even in his sister. "They're also used to determine who gets what job. Unfortunately, I'm quite positive only the jobs offered to the highest ranking initiates will appeal to you lot, but alas, a job is a job."

"But that isn't fair!" Someone protests, and I don't even look around to see who said it, too frozen in my own terror. "If we had known-"

"You what?" Klaus asks, cocking his head slightly to the side, and I have to stifle a shiver at the predatory look in his eyes. "Would you have not chosen Dauntless? Because if that's the case, you might as well get out now. What a pitiful sign of cowardice, not picking us because you might get cut. If you are truly Dauntless, you won't mind the chance that you could be cut. You'll give it your all anyways." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rebekah stiffen, her lips pressed tight. Klaus is looking right at her, challenging his sister. "You chose us. Now, we get to choose you."

I pick a bed in between Katherine and Bonnie, and as soon as I've changed into my night clothes, they're there, sitting on my bunk instead of their own. I don't hesitate to join them. "So what do you think about Klaus?" Bonnie asks me.

Quickly, I glance for Rebekah, not wanting her to hear us gossiping about her brother. When I see she's still in the shared bathrooms (yeah, SHARED bathrooms) checking her complexion in a mirror, I turn back to my new friends. "He's terrifying," I answer simply, and Bonnie nods her agreement. Katherine picks at her cuticles, trying to act casual, but I know by the way she glances up that she's listening.

Klaus hadn't so much as glanced at Bonnie or me when we entered where we'll be staying. But Katherine- he had stared at her for a good five seconds before looking away, scowling. It hadn't been outright recognition in his eyes, when he studied her, but it had been something.

"My problem isn't with Klaus," I say glumly, studying my hands. They're callused- working hands from spending such a large amount of my time growing up in the fields. "My problem is that I'm going to be factionless in about 6 weeks."

"Well, yeah, if you keep thinking like that," Katherine scoffs at me, leaning back and propping herself up at the base of the bed. "We haven't even been here a whole day. Giving up is dumb."

"Katherine is right," Bonnie tells me firmly, and I can't help but feel that I'm actually facing two Candors, not just one. "Like Klaus said, there's only seven transfers this year, which, from the choosing ceremonies I've seen, is surprisingly low." She's right- there's only us three, Rebekah, Tyler, and two Candor transfers named Diego and Thierry. We could very well all become Dauntless together. Or we could all be factionless. "And we haven't even started training. You don't know if you're going to be good at it or not."

"Okay," I breath, nodding. "You're right. We can do this." It's time to put away neurotic, control-freak Caroline and let brave Caroline. If she exists.

Still, I don't sleep well.

 **Author's Note: This chapter was pretty lame and short, but there will be a longer chapter up soon, along with some much needed character development. c:**


	6. 6

We wake up to the sound of banging metal, and I wince, blearily opening my eyes. For a second, I have no idea where I am. I expect to be in my room back home, with it's yellow walls and the oak floors, beads hanging from the doorway and windows and light streaming in. But everything here is gray, and to my right, Katherine sits up grumpily, her curly brown hair messy and wild.

"Rise and shine, initiates!" A semi-familiar voice shouts, and I turn. Marcel makes his way down the rows of beds, banging a metal pot with a spoon. "It's a glorious day to start training. You have five minutes to meet me in the Pit." And then he's gone.

Around me, people grumble and groan, but I simply stretch before hopping out of bed. I strip off my shirt and hurriedly put on one of the new ones they've given us. Maybe I blush when I see Tyler Lockwood eyeing me up and down, maybe I don't. I pull on pants next, since I had only slept in a shirt and a pair of underwear, and when I'm done, I look to Bonnie, who is still grumpily lacing up her shoes.

"It's like six in the morning," she tells me. "How are you so chipper?"

I shrug. "I'm still on Amity time. Usually, I was up with the dawn. You get used to it. Besides, mornings are the best part of the day."

Katherine snorts, shuffling up next to me. "Yeah, okay Sally Sunshine. Let's go."

We arrive in the Pit right on time, panting slightly since our options had narrowed down to either being late or sprinting through the compound. We chose the latter. "Good morning, initiates!" Marcel's voice booms, and next to me, my new friends wince at how loud he is so early in the morning.

Marcel is definitely not unattractive. His facial features are almost perfectly symmetrical, his teeth straight and pure white, and his dark eyes are still youthful. He must be only a couple years older than us, I realize. Plus, he's so charismatic, so charming that even if he wasn't as easy on the eyes, he'd probably still seem to be. "My boys say the weather outside looks to be a little cloudy," he continues. "And we thought that for your first day, we'll give you a break. No running in the rain." We all sigh in relief, and his eyes gleam wickedly, that smile always on his face widening. "Which is why we got you up extra early today so you can still do your run before the rain moves in."

Everyone groans. I suppose that it makes sense now why they woke us up earlier than they told us we'd have to wake up. Our first test- seeing how we handled building stamina so early in the morning. "Now normally," Marcel said, ignoring our sounds of protest. "You'll be training separately from the Dauntless born initiates, which you already know. But there's no harm in scoping out the competition every once in a while, so you'll be running with them this morning."

Great. I had had no qualms against not seeing the Dauntless born initiates. They already know how everything works, which puts the transfers at a disadvantage. Still, I don't let my annoyance show on my face, only eagerly following Marcel through the Pit. The Dauntless born initiates are making their way in from another tunnel, Damon and Lexi leading the way, and thankfully, they both seem less upset about the evident 'betrayal' of that boy Stefan. I wonder if my family and friends are going through the same thing back in Amity.

"You're looking particularly bouncy this morning, Gorgeous," an accented voice remarks, and I glance over to see Enzo striding up to me.

"Oh, joy, you're here," Katherine snarks from my other side. "Don't you have, I don't know, Dauntless born friends to hang out with?"

Enzo puts a hand to his chest in fake insult. "You wound me, doe eyes." My brunette friend bristles, but Bonnie butts in before she can rip the male's head off.

"No but seriously, do you not have Dauntless friends?" she asks, but there's a teasing lilt to her voice, nothing like Katherine's dripping sarcasm.

"You're asking me why I want to talk to three pretty transfers," he deadpans back. All three of said 'pretty transfers' have very different reactions: I laugh, Bonnie shakes her head and smiles, and Katherine snorts and rolls her eyes, though I DO catch her lips twitching up slightly.

The four of us continue to walk together as the initiate classes blend together, though most of the Dauntless borns stay away from the transfers, save for Enzo and us. Marcel, Lexi, and Damon lead us through a few hallways and up a flight of stairs before a pair of double doors appear, the light shining through them informing us that they lead outside. We push through, and I barely stop myself from screeching to a halt when I see Klaus standing there, his arms crossed behind his back and a smirk on his face.

All the trainers look visibly surprised as well; obviously they did not expect to see him out here either. Still, the leader doesn't seem to mind, throwing his arms wide, and I can't help but notice the muscle rippling under his black Henley. Jesus, are there any NOT attractive men at Dauntless?

"Good morning, initiates," he drawls out, eyes scraping over each and every one of us. "It's nice to see all of your beaming faces so bright and early." Katherine shuts her eyes briefly next to me, and I realize in dark amusement that she's physically preventing herself from rolling her eyes in front of him. "I had a nice chat with Alaric this morning, and he suggested I make your first run a little competition. It's important here at Dauntless that all of our members are in tip top shape, and that includes stamina. So, we've decided that whoever makes it to the other side of the Dauntless compound the fastest wins."

"What do we win?" A brunette Dauntless born girl with big eyes and a pout asks, and he raises his eyebrows at her.

"Not a very Dauntless thing to ask, Hayley," he smirks when she shrinks back slightly. "You get to win, of course." His eyes sweep through the crowd, and land on me, of all people. "Of course, if you're one of the last, I reassure you you won't be cut, though it may affect your rank just a bit."

I bristle. He's really automatically assuming I'm the weakest and slowest because I'm from Amity? Because I've been labeled 'Amity princess' my whole life? I barely stop myself from either snarling at him or smiling knowingly, because I have an advantage everyone seems to already overlook.

Yes, I was raised in Amity. But people forget that out of the factions, even if they're the most docile, the Amity are the second most physically active. I ran through the orchards and the fields with my Amity friends almost everyday for fun. If running a silly race that's basically built so he can make fun of the transfers for being slower than his precious Dauntless born class will prove I'm tougher than I look, than he sure as hell is in for a surprise.

"Come on, then," he calls, picking at his cuticles, and we all shuffle forward to form a line. Bonnie squeezes my hand in reassurance, but I don't need her reassurance, not now that humiliation is burning an unfamiliar rage in my gut. Not now that that rage is about to boost me through the whole race.

He barks a command, and Lexi, Marcel, and Damon run off, finding different places along the compound track to stand to make sure none of us are cheating, and Klaus gives us a few minutes to converse nervously before a sound beeps on something in his hand-a walkie talkie?- indicating all three trainers are in their correct places. "Alright," he says, and we all bend down, ready to take off when he tells us to. "On your mark, get set... go."

I take off like a bullet.

My arms pump by my sides, and I feel the adrenaline flowing through me. I hear everything- the blood in my ears, my panting, my feet stomping on the gravel. I pass Lexi first, and briefly, I see her grin, her eyebrows raising as I shoot passed her. Damon is next, and he whistles, calling, "Holy shit, Blondie!" I can hear the pounding of feet behind me, and though my heart is beginning to pound from exerting so much energy so quickly, I speed up, seeing Marcel standing a couple hundred feet away with his arms crossed, marking the end.

When I'm close enough, I can see the surprise written on his face, and the rage from them ALL thinking me so weak drives me those last twenty or so feet. I slow into a jog after I've passed Marcel, and then a walk. My heart is pounding, but I grin giddily anyways. Maybe the Dauntless could have beat me if they had been expecting me to run as fast as I had, if they had been prepared. But they hadn't, and hopefully they all-including Klaus- know that I'm not the Amity princess. Not anymore.

Enzo jogs up next to me, a grin of awe on his face. He's sweating and panting as hard as me, and I think he looks like his pride was hurt just a tad by being beat by the Amity girl in a race, but he hugs me anyways. "Bloody hell, gorgeous," he says. "Where'd you learn to run like that?"

"Amity," I smirk- and immediately decide that I most definitely like smirking. "People seem to forget we're almost as active as Dauntless. Just not as violent."

"You did that to get back at Klaus," he states, and it's not a question. I shrug, but the smirk does not fade from my face.

Katherine comes in seventh, Bonnie right behind her, and they jog up to me before Bonnie bends down, supporting her weight on her knees. "How-" she wheezes. "The hell- did you do- that?" I only laugh.

By the time all the initiates have gathered and begun to catch their breath again, Damon, Lexi, and Klaus are all striding up the path towards us. "The winner?" Klaus demands without any greeting.

Marcel moves through the crowd toward me, and once he gets there, he lifts my arm up. Klaus's eyes flicker, and he scowls slightly. Obviously, he doesn't enjoy being showed up, but I hold his gaze. His smile is scalding, and I want to flinch away from him and find somewhere to hide for the rest of the day. "Congratulations, Amity," he says, and stalks off without any other words.

 **Author's Note: Okay I love Klaus to death but people seem to forget what a dick he was at first. Like he WAS going to kill Caroline. Also, I feel like the Amity faction isn't really shown in the best light in the books, but, like, they work on a fucking farm, so wouldn't they actually be pretty fit lmao?  
Anyways, another update should be out soon. I hope you enjoyed this one! c: **


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